A judge rejected requests to dismiss the case or grant bail as prosecutors await medical examiner findings in the deaths.
DEDHAM, MA — A Wellesley mother accused of killing her two young children will remain held without bail after a judge Thursday granted prosecutors more time to await findings from the state medical examiner before moving the case forward.
Janette MacAusland, 49, appeared in Dedham District Court on Sept. 10 as her attorney challenged the continued delay in the case. MacAusland faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her daughter, Ella MacAusland, 6, and son, Kai MacAusland, 7. The children were found dead in their Wellesley home April 24. MacAusland has pleaded not guilty.
The hearing had been scheduled as a probable cause hearing, but prosecutors said they were not prepared to proceed because the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had not completed its determination of the cause and manner of the children’s deaths. Prosecutor Jennifer Hickman told the court that the findings were expected within the next several weeks. The medical examiner’s conclusions are significant because they would provide an official determination of how the children died.
Defense attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. objected to another delay and asked the judge either to dismiss the charges or allow MacAusland to be released on bail. Krowski argued that the case had remained at an early procedural stage for months and said the defense could not fully advance its case while waiting for prosecutors to complete their presentation. Judge Jeanmarie Carroll rejected those requests and allowed the prosecution’s motion for a continuance.
Prosecutors said evidence already collected provides a basis for the charges, including video from police in Bennington, Vermont. Hickman said a grand jury seated in July had been dismissed while authorities waited for the medical examiner’s results. Prosecutors plan to reconvene a grand jury after receiving those findings.
The investigation began after MacAusland arrived at a relative’s home in Bennington on April 24 in a distressed condition and with an injury to her neck, according to court records and police accounts. Authorities in Vermont contacted Wellesley police, who went to the family’s Edgemoor Avenue home for a welfare check and found Ella and Kai dead inside.
An affidavit cited by news organizations says MacAusland told investigators that she had strangled the children and then tried to take her own life. That account remains an allegation in the criminal case, and the medical examiner had not issued an official cause or manner of death as of Thursday’s hearing. MacAusland’s not guilty plea remains in place, and the charges have not been proven in court.
Court records also show that MacAusland and her husband had been involved in divorce and child-custody proceedings before the children’s deaths. Her defense attorney has said mental health could become an issue in the case, but he said Thursday that he had not settled on a specific defense and was still waiting for additional information.
Krowski also urged prosecutors to reconsider how the case is being charged, referring publicly to broader questions about mental illness and criminal responsibility. He cautioned against directly comparing MacAusland’s case with the separate prosecution of Duxbury mother Lindsay Clancy, whose recent trial ended without a verdict. Krowski said MacAusland’s circumstances must be evaluated on their own facts.
MacAusland remains in custody without bail. Carroll scheduled the next probable cause hearing for Oct. 29, when the court could receive an update on the medical examiner’s findings and prosecutors’ efforts to move the case toward a grand jury.
Author note: Last updated September 11, 2026.